When I Grow Up, I Want To Be...

Rachel Ellman visiting
the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
Class of 2007

I did my internship with NSBRI the summer after I graduated college because I was having a bit of a quarter-life crisis. I could not decide what I wanted to do with my life – go to graduate school? Medical school? Industry? I knew that I loved space and medicine and wanted to pursue a career that meshed the two. Then, I stumbled on the perfect way to test the waters of Johnson Space Center (JSC) – through the NSBRI Summer Internship.

And I had a blast! My work in the Anthropometry & Biomechanics Facility with Dr. Sudhakar Rajulu was stimulating and challenging. The twice-weekly lecture presentations by JSC scientists was one of the highlights for me. I was able to learn in that one, short summer broadly what everyone was working on in a range of fields from nutrition to radiation to bone. There was never a shortage of tours and talks that allowed us to explore JSC and meet heroes like Gene Kranz and active astronauts. Not to mention the tons of other students that descend on JSC for the summer, with whom there’s plenty of time to explore Houston.

It is largely because of that internship that I am now in my third year of a Ph.D. in the NSBRI-funded Bioastronautics Program within the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology… and I couldn’t be happier. I was so excited by everything that was going on at JSC that I knew I had to make bioastronautics-related research a priority in my career path. Currently, I am investigating the effects of partial gravity on bone and muscle in a mouse model. 

I definitely recommend applying for the internship because it’s a great way to experience JSC, and a rare opportunity to work alongside NASA scientists and make a contribution to the field!

Helpful Tips to Smoothly Glide through your Internship

Kate Montgomery
NSBRI Intern - Class of 2008

My internship with NSBRI was the most valuable research experience that I had as an undergraduate. I worked in the Neurovestibular lab under the mentorship of Dr. Millard Reschke. Dr. Reschke gave me a lot of independence and an opportunity to really shine and learn much more than I could have hoped for. After my internship, I got the chance to do research on the "Weightless Wonder,” part of NASA's parabolic flight program. It was an amazing experience!

I'm now pursuing a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Stanford University, in large part because of my internship with NSBRI. I still use many of the skills I learned on the job at NASA for my work at Stanford doing a combination of neurology and biomechanics. Although I'm not currently pursuing a career in space science, I'm definitely not ruling it out. Plus, the things we learn about humans that travel to space gives us knowledge about basic human biology and our capacity to adapt to new environments.

My advice for future participants would be to fully involve yourself in the experience. Work really hard and spend as much time there as you can. This is a once in a lifetime experience and your chance to really get ahead.

Go to scientific talks. Meet astronauts. Go for runs around JSC. Lead your research project.

Publishing Papers, Making Lifelong Friends and the Vomit Comet

Mae Sattam
NSBRI Intern – Class of 2004

My internship with NSBRI was very helpful in so many ways. Though it did not lead to a job at NASA or in the aerospace industry, it led me to lifelong friendships and a future in the medical device industry. I still keep in touch with fellow interns from the summer of 2004. In fact, I recently went to two of their weddings this year. Not only are they great friendships, but we have continued to advise each other as we finished our undergraduate and graduate careers and now as professionals in various industries.

Without the experience I gained at NASA, I would not have been able to go as far I have in cardiovascular technology. During the internship, I worked with Dr. Todd Schlegel and helped co-write his paper, High-frequency QRS electrocardiogram predicts perfusion defects during myocardial perfusion imaging, published in the Journal of Electrocardiology.

In addition to flying on the Vomit Comet, my internship experience has helped shaped my work in cardiology. I'm currently working as a product development engineer at OriGen Biomedical. We design and manufacture extracorporeal membrane oxygenation catheters and cryopreservation bags.

My advice to future participants is to do something you enjoy and are passionate about. This is one of the few times you can, and it is definitely beneficial to get as much experience through internships as possible. It makes for an incredibly enjoyable summer!